Seeing thetroopsof the monasteryon the horizon,Takayamaorders his mento take a standonthe bridge over theriverOogawa. Magojirouand Nakaemake sure thay havea goodline of sight onthemain streetwhileTounaisecures,from the opposite bank, the bridge andthe road for the way back.Harumasaand Yajirouswim across the riverto rushin searchof the beautifulYukiko. The remainingtroopsadvancecautiouslyon the bridge.Kaimaru, not at ease, enters with great caution intothe cold waters oftheOogawa.

The monkson their side, fearing opposing shooters, rushedto the cover of the houses, whichslowstheirprogression in the village.(as you can see, my opponenthad notenough time topaint hisfigures...sorry)

Takayama's menquicklysearchthehousesnearthe river. Ushimarugoes, bravely, to the largesthouse in the villageto findthe girl, despite the proximity of themonks.Yayirousuddenlyshouts:-Here, I found her! You, you come with me! Quickly !

The monks didnot, however,sit idlyand their vanguardfalls on thepoorYajirouwho has just thetime to pushthe girlback.Kousukegrab her and pulls her to the bridge.Ishikawatriesto helpYajiroubut the fightis already ragingand there isnot enough space for him. Harumasayellsawhaaaaand triesto outflankthetwo apprenticesthat beset thepoorYajirou.

Yajirouhasmanaged to survivethe fightagainst his two opponents and thereinforcement of Harumasaturns now the battlein their favor.Theymanage soontoget rid of one of theiropponents.Kousukeis now onthe bridgewith the girlbut theyare not movingvery quickly becausethe girl isscared andstrugglingas sheis, of course, unaware of thecontract betweenthe robbersand his father.

Kaimarutries to stopthedisciple whochasesYukiko, but the monk who was running towardsKanaehaschanged itscourseandjustplant hisnaginatain the back ofthe poorKaimaruwhich collapseson the bridge.His bloodflows through thewooden slatsandeach dropcolorsa little morein purplethe watersof the Oogawa, which are reflecting thered leaves of the early autumn.

With the help of the RoninandSaburou, Takayama quickly overcomeshis opponent andthey ruch togetherto rescueMagojirou. This isthe kill.Yajirou and Harumasa are joined byUshimaruwho has takencourage.The lastapprentice is notable to resistthe onslaughtof thosethree.Tounaiblocks thebridgewhileHarumasa outflanks the lastdisciple.

This storytherefore ends witha massacre ofreligious, a poor Kaimarupoor ripped and a girlsavedby some bandits...but what will bring the following of theseadventures?Is it verywise, for example,to entrust the custody ofYukiko to Tounai and Magojirou, oncethe troopshas returned totheir hideoutinthe hills ofNihondairawhenwe knowtheir reputation ?

Because I changed my living place from alarge house in theLorraine countrysidetoa small apartment inTokyo,I had also toreducethe scaleof myfigurinesinproportion...so I start to buy15mm scale figures for one of myfavorite periods...Unfortunatelyall availablearmies interest me andI do not knowwhich one to choose!Here isthe current campaign going on Kickstarterfor Warand Empire...

After a longhesitation,I started to supporttheprojectof the french people from ForgottenGlorious in order to build aUnion Armyforthe American Civil War...Thisis largelymotivated by thememorable gamewe had at the Club "Les loups du téméraire" of which I saluteall the members and thank them !

A long time ago in the forests of Nihondaira日本 平 in Suruga no Kuni骏 河 国 lived a band of outlaws hounded by the authorities. At their head was Takayama Hidemori leading a relentless battle against the troops of the Imagawa clan ...

One day, came to his ears that Tadakada Inou, a small local vassal of lord Imagawa,
was ordered to have his daughter, the lovely Yukiko, entrusted to a religious
congregation to avoid a marriage with a rival clan. Through Ushimaru the "literate", Takayama got in touch with agents of Tadakada to conclude an agreement. "I get the girl during her journey to the monastery and bring her back to you, in return your lord pays us handsomely ... do we have a deal ? " Takayama
thought to kill two birds with one arrow : gain money to pass the winter and
relieve the poor peasants of Suruga-ku by offering them some rice while
playing a dirty trick to the Imagawa clan.

Two
weeks later, at the hare's hour, the whole troop of Takayama approached the
small village of Ooi which is just after the river Oogawa, border between the lands
of Tadakada and those of the Imagawa clan. The young Yukiko had spent the night there before continuing his journey to the monastery of Enrian.